so glad to hear this! I confess, I just did it for the first time lst week. I was running late and just did it. She didn't even realize or question me. But, the next client was so nervous. She said, "oh, i'm afraid". That was the end of that. I wrapped her up and scraped it off and had a whole conversation in my head. I am very careful and make sure not to damage the natural nail. I know it is not what we should be doing but I was so on time after her.

Yes, use an efile gently & it comes off quick without damage, plus...acetone can be sooooo drying, some clients are still afraid of 'the drill'
You know how it goes, just explain to them that when done correctly they will leave with undamaged nails & it's better than soaking in that drying acetone

I'm not going to explain to the nervous ones. If they don't want me to use it I will do it the other way. As long as they don't panic I am buzzing it off from now on.
I am so in love my my efile that I love every opportunity to use it. I find it so theraputic.

I take small acetone saturated pieces of cotton and foil to wrap each toe. It is a nuisance because it is a bit awkward to get them wrapped.Fingers are so much easier to wrap.
The efile is great as long as you are very careful not to damage the nail.
I have seen what some nail techs have done to people with artificial finger nails. They have completely damaged their nail beds.

- sobeit - 10-30-201101:57 PM

For me it actually takes me longer to file it off than to soak. I will do almost anything to keep the dust down. I always look like a powdered donut, so I will take soaking any day over filling. I started using the cotton foil method vs bowl since it uses way less acetone, and clean up is easier. But I can see the draw to filing it off if the client is prone to excess drying, or has an owie that would burn in aceton contact.

I e-file my own Polish Pro off just cause it's quicker and I hate wrapping my own fingers.
But for clients with natural nails I use the soak off method using foil, cotton pad and acetone. I have just bought a pile of foil that is coloured to match the colour decor of my salon (purple) and my clients are loving it.
I use Polish Pro and find this soaks off soooooo easily anyway, so I don't find soaking too much of a hassle.
For clients who have Polish pro over enhancements, I use the e-file and it's all gone with in minutes and it kills 2 birds with one stone cause you can also file off some bulk and be ready for your rebalance.

I have to educate all my clients because I just started using an efile about 2/3 years ago after 17 years off soaking & hand filing. If you were to soak you can always put some cuticle oil around the nail area & cuticles to help with the drying of acetone

I dont want to start a war here so dont take it personally, but I gotta ask: for those who file it off - arent you worried about damaging the nail? You can be the most careful person and still thin the nails, especially doing them every 2 weeks or so. What kind of bit are you using?

Another question: how long does it take you to do a mani from start to finish when removing old, doing the mani and putting on new gel polish?

Hi I would never believed that I would file gel polish off because I've soaked & hand filed for years, I just took a the young nail one week course in August & they taught us 3 different ways to remove the gel, 1 is soak, 2 file & soak & the 3rd was to file off, two mentors had gel polish on & has been wearing them for months & filed off with no damage, it's super light or you can leave a bit of the base on, I practiced a lot at home & on myself before attempting it on clients but you use a low speed & there isn't any 'soft' spots or damage, we used a sanding band or ( I may get the name of this wrong) the gold carbide band (believe it or not!!) idk if it's called xcut or crosscut, I get that mixed up but I don't use that. It takes me a about 45 min, if I add a mini manicure to it it takes an hour, I would like to get quicker & still do good quality work but I'm not there yet!

- sobeit - 10-31-201110:40 PM

Quote:ColleenNY :
> I dont want to start a war here so dont take it personally, but I gotta ask:
> for those who file it off - arent you worried about damaging the nail? You
> can be the most careful person and still thin the nails, especially doing them
> every 2 weeks or so. What kind of bit are you using?
>
> Another question: how long does it take you to do a mani from start to finish
> when removing old, doing the mani and putting on new gel polish?

Colleen I agree with this. For me, its only logical that there is no way we can only file product and not touch the natural nail, I feel like thats impossible. We go through product layers so quick and no matter how careful or slow we go, the natural nail gets that file. Of course I am not saying anyone is damaging the nail plate or excessively thining it, but I believe the nail is being filed during this type of removal. I often use a very fine (pink back sand turtle) to smooth the nail when I do a regular manicure, my polish holds much longer.

I soak product off, for me it's faster than filing it with how slow and careful we need to be, so my removal, mani, and re-app takes 45 min start to out the door. Massage and all. If the client comes in without the gel polish on it takes me about 35 min to make sure the nail is cleaned and shaped.

I have people who have been wearing the gel polish for a year and a half, with me filing off, and their nails are still healthy. I use the PB on the whole nail, not just the FE, so that eliminates the need to buff off all the product - I buff down to the base coat. If they're going with the same or a darker color, you don't even have to remove all the color before reapplying. Yes, you do have to be very careful, but it is possible to do.

I do a classic gel base, very thin, no thicker than a thicker version of a top coat and with no arch. The flexibility of the gel colors (100% gel from Akzentz, not a solvent based "gel polish") balances out the hard layer of gel and the result is a super strong, long lasting gel polish that doesn't get hot when e-filed off and allows me to stop right above the hard layer of gel. its only one quick extra coat and SO worth it.

I have been a nail tech for 18 yeqars and seen alot of bad natural nails due to negligence on nail techs. I am not at all trying to rock the boat on here. I am an educator for hand and nail harmony Gelish. I would never reccomend to any nail tech to use an efile to remove this product, that really is carelessness on a nail techs part to do so. Using an efile to just remove the shine is no different than taking the 180 grit file to remove the shine but seriously, when you start getting into the color it's best to put some oil on the nail and use the cotton and foil method to soak off the rest. Make sure your foil is dull side in and i use the round cotton pads and cut them into peices, staying saturated is key to quik removal, and heat helps accelorate the process. Using 100% acetone is definitely a huge no no!! You should really use the remover that goes with your system, most of them contain moisturizing agents in them to keep the moisture level in the nail balanced. I would really not reccomend using pure acetone. Pure acetone can take only 2 mins to deplete the natural nail. Also you can file through 7 layers of a natural nail in one second with the efile. I know our time is our money but it is also our resposibility to our customers to keep their nails in the best condition possible as well.

I wouldn't doubt you have seen a lot of bad natural nails, I think many of us have. But I also think if you are well trained and know what you are doing you can remove the product without damage. I wouldn't remove color on the natural nail each service - which is why I always leave a barrier of hard gel and file down to that, but if I am removing a set I still do it very carefully with my efile. I always do toes with my efile every single time - and thats without the barrier of hard gel. Unless someone has naturally thin nails, there is no problems with this process since I know how to do this without damage. I know how the base coat looks and feels and can be very exact with the file.

My clients would much rather me e-file the color off safely than soak with any product. If I market a "soak off" service with no efiles used, perhaps I'll get some new clients to fill in a few spots of some who moved recently - maybe a facebook add trial!

But anyway my point being, when it comes down to a well educated technician, its preference of you and your clients. If someone isn't comfortable with their efile, by all means soak away.

cbch1 :
> I have been a nail tech for 18 yeqars and seen alot of bad natural nails due
> to negligence on nail techs. I am not at all trying to rock the boat on here.
> I am an educator for hand and nail harmony Gelish. I would never reccomend
> to any nail tech to use an efile to remove this product, that really is carelessness
> on a nail techs part to do so. Using an efile to just remove the shine is
> no different than taking the 180 grit file to remove the shine but seriously,
> when you start getting into the color it's best to put some oil on the nail
> and use the cotton and foil method to soak off the rest. Make sure your foil
> is dull side in and i use the round cotton pads and cut them into peices, staying
> saturated is key to quik removal, and heat helps accelorate the process. Using
> 100% acetone is definitely a huge no no!! You should really use the remover
> that goes with your system, most of them contain moisturizing agents in them
> to keep the moisture level in the nail balanced. I would really not reccomend
> using pure acetone. Pure acetone can take only 2 mins to deplete the natural
> nail. Also you can file through 7 layers of a natural nail in one second with
> the efile. I know our time is our money but it is also our resposibility to
> our customers to keep their nails in the best condition possible as well.

Your not rocking the boat, your just giving your opinion, we all have them & it helps with the original question, I do have to say though that I'm not being careless or negligent, I've had some of the same clients for 15 years or more & when they first started coming to me they were happy that I was 'one of those techs that don't use a drill', when I started learning & telling them I was going to start using an efile I did get some worriers & apprehensive & scared comments but now they see that I do it correctly & there isn't damage, ecspecially my natural nail clients, so they're content & I didn't lose any, I'm not fast or hurrying, I would love to be quicker like I stated above, fast but good quality work, sobeit is quicker than me & she soaks, I'm hoping to work up to that speed

cbch1 :
> I have been a nail tech for 18 yeqars and seen alot of bad natural nails due
> to negligence on nail techs. I am not at all trying to rock the boat on here.
> I am an educator for hand and nail harmony Gelish. I would never reccomend
> to any nail tech to use an efile to remove this product, that really is carelessness
> on a nail techs part to do so.
> Also you can file through 7 layers of a natural nail in one second with
> the efile. I know our time is our money but it is also our resposibility to
> our customers to keep their nails in the best condition possible as well.

I understand your point but as others have mentioned, a well trained confident nail tech will not damage the nail with an efile weather it be SOG or traditional hard gel. I always use the efile first. Yes, I switch to a board for final work on sidewalls and final smoothing but a tech can do just as much damage with a straight file too.